Kinetoscope.



G. W. BINGHAM.

KINBTOSGOPE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, 1911.

1,123,664. Patented Jan.5, 1915.

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.4 TTORNEY I'Hk NORRIS PETERS c0 PHOTO L/THO WASH/NUTUN D c G. W.BINGHAM.

KINETOSGOPE.

APPLICATION FILED 00'1'.24,1911.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS*SHBET 2.

' ATTORNEY THE NORRIS PETERS C0 PHOTO L/THo, WAbH/NG roN 0 c UNITEDsrnrpgpngnnr orrion.

GEORGE w. BINGHAM, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

KINETOSCOPE.

Application filed October 24, 1911.

To all tvhom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BINGHAM, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county ofKings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Kinetoscopes, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in kinetoscopes or movingpicture machines, and relates more particularly to the means foradvancing and controlling the position of the film.

One of the main objects of my invention is to facilitate the framing ofthe picture while the machine is in operation and to simplify theframing mechanism and render more efficient this framing mechanism.

To accomplish this object I provide means which temporarily causes thefilm roller to rotate at a slightly increased speed in respect to theremaining mechanism, and I control this variation in speed by the samehandle employed in operating the machine. Thus the operator, whileturning the handle in the ordinary way, may at the same time give thishandle a secondary movement, which will control the framing of thepicture.

In the accompanying drawings, to which reference is to be had, I haveshown this embodiment of my invention, but as it is evident that variouschanges may be made in the construction and within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention, Idesire these drawings to be considered in an illustrative rather than ina limiting sense.

In the drawings similar reference characters indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a machine constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a face view of the machine, apart of the wall shown at the left of Fig. 1 being broken away; Fig. 3is a face view, a portion being shown in section on the line 33 of Fig.1; Fig. 4c is a sectional detail on the line 4 i of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is asection on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a face view of aportion of a modified form of slide.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Serial No. 656,404.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, I provide a suitable frame or casing 10 of anysuitable character to serve as a support for the various operating partsof the machine.

The film 7 is delivered to the machine from a roll not shown, andsupported in any suitable manner, and the said film passes over a roller11, thence through guides 12 and 13 on a slide 1 1. The'film then passesbetween two rollers 15 and 16 to a suitable rewinding roller not shown.

Intermediate the two guides 12 and 13, the film passes a window 17 inthe wall of the casing and is held closely adjacent to the wall whilepassing this window by means of a suitable apertured spring 18. Theroller 15 is positively rotated at the desired speed by mechanismhereinafter described, and this roller serves to advance the film at asubstantially constant rate. The roller may, if desired, be providedwith a series of pins or projections, which engage in apertures in thefilm so as to maintain the latter in proper registry.

For insuring proper contact of the film with the roller, the roller 16is mounted upon a lever 19 and is pressed against the roller 15 by theaction of a spring 20. The two rollers 15 and 16 are of substantiallythe same size, so that there is no sharp bending of the film and asutlicient frictional area is provided to avoid liability of tearing orinjuring the film. In threading the machine, the roller 16 may bereadily movedaway from the roller 15 by pressing down on the free end ofthe lever 19.

As previously stated, the roller 15 is constantly rotated, so that thereis a constant forward movement of the film at this point.-

One of the main features of my invention relates to the means which Iemploy for giving the film an intermittent movement past the window 17.This mechanism in its preferred form includes the slide 14 and '1 guides19. and 13 previously referred to. The slide is held between suitablebrackets or cleats 21 and 22, so that its movement is limited to amovement in a plane parallel to the plane of the opening 17.

The slide has a large opening 23 opposite the window 17, so that in noposition will the slide cut off the light through the window. In thelower portion of the slide there is an opening 24, within which ismounted a cam 25. The cam is secured to a shaft 26, which latter isdriven from a parallel shaft 27 by a pair of intermeshing gears 28 and29. The gears are preferably eccentric and the cam is of such shape thatwith the shaft 26 rotating at a uniform speed, the slide 14 will have avery rapid downward movement followed by a comparatively slow upwardmovement.

To secure the proper movement of the film, the upper guide 12, throughwhich the film passes, is 'so positioned in respect to the roller. 11,that the inlet end of the slide is at substantially the same distancefrom the roller in its upper position as when in its lower position. Inother words, the slide may move from its upper to its lower position orvice versa without tightening the film between the roller and the slideand without producing any permanent slack or loop. The lower guide 13 isso positioned in respect to the lower edge of the roller 15,

that it will be the nearest to said roller when the slide is in itsupper position, as illustrated, and the distance between the guide andthe edge of the roller 15 will increase as the slide descends.

The range of movement of the slide and the relative position of theparts is so controlled that while the roller 15 is rotating at a uniformspeed, the extremely rapid downward movement of the slide l t will carrythe film bodily such a distance that the picture in front of the windowwill be advanced and the next succeeding one will take its position inproper registry. After the slide reaches its lowermost position and hasadvanced the film, the slide starts upward slowly and, as the lowerguide 13 is below the roller 15, there is produced a slack in the filmbetween the guide and the roller. The roller continues to rotate andacts to take up this slack and prevent the film from being carriedupward bodily during the return movement of the slide. The parts are soproportioned and the slide is moved up wardly at such a speed that thefilm between the slide 13 and the roller 15 remains substantially tautduring the entire upward movement of the slide and the portion of thefilm opposite the window remains stationary. Of course, during this timethe film is passing inwardly through the upper guide 12 and outwardlyfrom the lower slide 13.

It will be noted that the slide in moving downwardly carries the filmwith it without gripping or clamping the film and that the film is heldat only the one point, namely, at the roller 15. Even though the film advances uniformly at this point, the reciprocation of the slide with ahigh speed in one :lirection and a low speed in the other gives theportion of the film opposite the window a series of intermittentmovements separated by intervals during which the film is T stationary.

I do not wish it to be understood that the accompanying drawing showsthe parts in exactly the proper scale and the gears and cam of exactlythe right proportions and shapes to give perfect results. ings merelyindicate the necessary parts for securing the desired object.

As previously stated, the roller 15 is continuously rotated to advancethe film, and this speed of rotation bears a predetermined relationshipto the speed of movement of the slide, so that the roller will advancethe film a distance equal to the length of one picture during eachcomplete cycle of,n1ovement of the slide. In threading the film into themachine, it usually happens that the pictures on the film when firstplaced in po sition do not bear the proper relationship to the cycle ofmovement of the machine; in other words, the picture is not properlyframed. It is thus necessary to advance the film in respect to the slideuntil it does assume the proper position and is properly framed.

One of the main objects of my invention is to facilitate the properframing of the picture while the machine is in operation, so as to takecare of any irregularities in the film and to insure the proper positionof the picture at all times. The improved mechanism which I provide foraccomplishing this object enables me to frame the picture by a secondarymovement of the handle of the crank which operates the machine. Theroller 15 is mounted on a shaft 30 carrying a pinion 31 meshing with alarge gear Encircling this shaft is a sleeve 33 cars rying a pinion 34meshing with a gear 35. The gear 32 is loosely mounted on a shaft s13,while the gear 35 is secured to a sleeve 36 encircling the said shaft.The sleeve 36 carries the crank 37 by means of which the machine isoperated. The crank has a handle 38 substantially at right anglesthereto and the end of this handle engages with a lever 39 pivotedintermediate the ends of the crank and connected to the shaft 13. Uponthe extreme opposite end of the shaft 43 is a head or disk 40, which maybe moved into engagement with the gear 32 to press the latter firmlyagainst the gear 35 and lock the two together when desired. The pinion34: carries a series of ratchet dogs 11, as is illustrated particularlyin Fig. 5, and these dogs engage with a ratchet wheel 42 on the shaft43.

In the normal operation the head or disk 40 is out of engagement withthe gear 32 and motion is transmitted from the crank to the film roller15 through the sleeve 36,

The drawgear 35, dogs 41,- ratchet 42 and shaft 30. When it is desiredto advance the film so as to properly frame the picture, the operator,While turning the crank, presses the handle endwise, that is, toward theleft from the position shown in Fig. 3, and this looks the gears 32 and35 together. As the gear 32 is very slightly larger than the gear 35,the shaft 30 will be caused to rotate through the gear 32 and the pinion31 at a slightly higher speed than it would be rotated with the motiontransmitted through the gear 35 and pinion 34. This will cause the dogs41 to slip over the ratchet 42, and the film roller will be rotated atan increased speed. At the same time the sleeve 33 will continue torotate at the same speed as before, and it is from this sleeve that theother mechanism of the machine is operated. Any suitable means may beemployed for securing this operation but, as shown, I provide the sleevewith a beveled gear 44 meshing with a beveled pinion 45 on the shaft 27and the beveled gear is provided with a peripheral row of teeth formeshing with a pinion 46 for operating the shutter and flywheel. Theslide and shutter will thus maintain in their regular motion, while thefilm will increase its speed until the picture is properly framed. Bypulling outwardly on the bandle, the gear 32 will be released and theoperation of the machine will then continue with the picture properlyframed.

I do not claim any improvement in the shutter in this application, but Ihave illustrated a shutter 47 operated by a connection 48 on the sameshaft as the pinion 46, and this shaft also carries a flywheel 49. Atany time during the operation of the machine, if it is found that thepicture is getting out of the frame, mechanism may be brought to bear bythe operator without stopping the machine and by means of the samehandle which operates the machine.

As previously stated, I do not wish to be limited to any particular formof mecha nism for giving the slide the desired move ment. In Fig. 6, Ihave illustrated a modified form of slide 50 mounted in exactly the samemanner as the slide illustrated in the other figures, but in the lowerportion of this slide there is a diagonal slot 51 through which extendsan eccentric pin 52 on a crank disk 53. The shape of this slot and theposition and size of the pin may be so varied as to give the slide thedesired quick down movement and slower return movement.

The form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings isespecially adapted for home or school use and is designed to be operatedby hand, but it is, of course, evident that the invention may beembodied in other forms of machines and that power may be employed ifdesired for operating the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a kinetoscope the combination'of means for continuously advancinga portion of the film, means for intermittently advancing anotherportion of said film, a handle operatively connected to both of saidmeans and gearing controlled by said handle for varying the speed ofsaid first mentioned means in respect to said second mentioned means.

2. In a kinetoscope the combination of a continuously operating filmadvancing roller, means for intermittently advancing a portion of thefilm, a handle operatively connected to said roller and said means foroperating them in synchronism and said handle having means carriedthereby for increasing the relative rate of speed of said roller.

3. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, ahandle, gearing interposed between said roller and said handle fordriving the roller at one speed, auxiliary gearing interposed betweensaid handle and said roller and driving said roller at a different speedand means carried by said handle for throwing one of'said gearings intoand out of operation.

4. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a shaftfor rotating the same, two independent sets of gears for rotating saidshaft, a rotatable member for driving both of said sets of gears andmeans carried by said rotatable member for throwing one of said sets ofgears into or out of operation.

5. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a crank,two sets of gearing interposed between said crank and said roller forrotating the latter at different speeds and selective means carried bysaid crank for controlling said gearing.

6. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a shaft,gearing connecting said shaft to said roller, a sleeve encircling saidshaft, gearing connecting said sleeve and said roller and driving meansfor rotating said shaft and said sleeve at the same or at differentspeeds.

7. In a kinetoscope the combination of a shaft, a film advancing rollercarried thereby, a second shaft, a pair of intermeshing gears carried bysaid shafts, the gear on said secondmentioned shaft being looselymounted, sleeves encircling said shafts, a pair of intermeshing gearscarried by said sleeves, pawl and ratchet connections between saidfirst-mentioned shaft and the gear of the sleeve encircling said shaftand manually operated means for securing together the gear on saidsecond-mentioned shaft and the gear on the sleeve encircling said shaft.

8. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a crankincluding a handle, gearing connecting said crank and said roller, asecond set of gearing for rotating said roller at a different speed andmeans controlled by said handle for bringing said last-mentioned gearinginto operation.

9. In a kinetoscope afilm advancing roller, a crank including a handle,gearing connecting said crank and said roller and means controlled bysaid handle for varying the speed of said roller in respect to saidcrank.

10. In a kinetoscope the combination of a shutter, a film advancingroller, means for operating said shutter and said roller in synchronism,a crank for driving said operating means and means controlled by saidcrank for driving said roller and shutter out of synchronism to framethe picture.

11. In a kinetoscope means for intermittenty advancing the film, aroller for drawing the film through said means, driving means for saidroller and said means and means for varying the speed of one in respectto the other while the machine is in operation.

12. In a kinetoscope the combination of means for intermittentlyadvancing the film, a roller for drawing the film through said means, acrank, interposed mechanism for operating said means and said rollerfrom said crank and in synchronism and means carried by said crank formoving said firstmentioned means and roller out of synchronism to framethe picture.

13. In a kinetoscope the combination of reciprocating means forintermittently advancing a portion of the film, a roller for drawing thefilm therethrough and means for varying the speed of said roller inrespect to said first-mentioned means.

14. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a shaftsupporting the same, a sleeve encircling said shaft, a shutter, a filmadvancing device, means for operating said device and said shutter fromsaid sleeve, a gear carried by said sleeve and through which the sleevemay be driven, pawl and ratchet connections between said sleeve and saidshaft and means for rotating said shaft faster than said sleeve to framethe picture.

15. In a moving picture machine the combination of an operating member,means operated thereby for effecting the normal advancement of the filmand means also operated thereby for eifecting an abnormal advancement ofthe film.

16. In a moving picture machine the combination of an operating crank,means driven thereby for effecting the normal advancement of the filmand means also driven thereby for effecting an abnormal advancement ofthe film to frame the picture.

17. In a moving picture machine the combination of an operating member,a movable film advancing member driven thereby and means whereby saidsecond mentioned member may be operated by said first mentioned memberfor effecting either the normal advancement of the film or an abnormaladvancement of the film to frame the picture.

18. In a moving picture machine the combination of an operating crank,means for advancing the film at a normal rate, a roller, means forrotating said roller by said crank at such a speed as to give the filman abnormal advancement and frame the picture.

19. In a moving picture machine the com bination of an operatingmechanism, means driven thereby for normally advancing the film andmeans also driven by said operating mechanism to give the film anabnormal movement to bring it into proper registry.

20. In a kinetoscope the combination of means for continuously advancinga portion of the film, means for intermittently advancing anotherportion of said film, a handle operatively connected to both of saidmeans and gearing controlled by said handle for varying the speed ofsaid first-mentioned means in respect to said secondanentioned means.

21. In a kinetoscope the combination of a continuously operating filmadvancing roller, means for intermittently advancing a portion of thefilm, a handle operatively connected to said roller and said means foroperating them in synchronism and said handle having means carriedthereby for varying the relative rate of speed of said roller.

22. In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, ahandle, gearing interposed between said roller and said handle fordriving the roller at one speed, auxiliary gearing interposed betweensaid handle and said roller and driving said roller at a different speedand means carried by said han- (lie for throwing one of said gearingsinto and out of operation.

In a kinetoscope the combination of a film advancing roller, a shaftrotating the 1 same, two independent sets of gears for rotating saidshaft, a rotatable member for driving both of said sets of gears andmeans carried by said rotatable member for throwing one of said sets ofgears into or out of operation.

M. In a kinetoscope the combination of a circling said shaft, gearingconnecting said sleeve and said roller and driving means for rotatingsaid shaft and said sleeve at the same or at different speeds.

26. In a kinetoscope the combination of a shaft, a film advancing rollercarried thereby, a second shaft, a pair of intermeshing gears carried bysaid shafts, sleeves encircling said shafts, a pair of intermeshinggears carried by said sleeves, pawl and ratchet connections between saidfirst-mentioned shaft and the sleeve encircling the same and manuallyoperated means for r0- tating said second-mentioned shaft independentlyof, or at the same speed with its sleeve.

27. In a kinetoscope a film advancing roller, a crank including ahandle, gearing connecting said crank and said roller and meanscontrolled by said handle for varying the speed of said roller inrespect to said crank.

28. In a kinetoscope the combination of a shutter, a film advancingroller, means for operating said shutter and said roller in synchronism,a crank for driving said operating means and means controlled by saidcrank for driving said roller and shutter out of synchronism to framethe picture.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GEORGE W. BINGHAM.

Witnesses:

CLAIR W. FAIRBANK, ELEANOR T. MINOGUE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C."

